HTC Files Answer in Apple Patent Lawsuit

HTC files its answer to Apple’s patent infringement lawsuit in Delaware with the expected denial that it has done anything wrong and also claimed that four of Apple’s patents are invalid.

Apple filed twolawsuits against HTC alleging some of the smartphone maker’s products infringe on no less than 20 of its iPhone-related patents. “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” commented Apple CEO Steve Jobs when the first lawsuit was filed.

The patents Apple claims HTC is infringing on relate to the iPhone interface, the device’s hardware, display technology and the underlying architecture.

In its answer, HTC asserts that Apple’s infringement claims are invalid “for failure to comply with one or more of the conditions for patentability set forth in Title 35 of the United States Code, including, but not limited to, utility, novelty, non-obviousness, enablement, written description and definiteness in accordance with 35 U.S.C.§§ 101, 102, 103, 112, and/or 116, or are invalid pursuant to the judicial doctrine barring double-patenting.”

HTC makes several smartphone models, including some that use Google’s Android platform. Google’s Android platform shares some similarities to the iPhone OS, and there has been speculation that Android’s multi-touch support is one of the areas that pushed Apple to file its patent infringement lawsuit.